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Black & Gold Notes - May 24

Black & Gold Notes - May 24

OPENING AND CLOSING THE MONTH OF MAY WITH NEW YORK
The Crew completes the month of May with a trip to Red Bull Arena for the second meeting between Columbus and New York in the month of May ... the Crew is 1-2-0 in three matches this month and picked up a 1-0 win at Toronto last Saturday to snap a two-game losing streak that began with the visit from the Red Bulls on May 4 ... New York joins New England as the only other MLS team that the Crew faces twice in the same calendar month this season, as the Black & Gold square-off with the Revs on October 19 in Foxborough before closing-out the regular season on October 27 at Crew Stadium.

EARLY OFFENSIVE SUCCESS AT RED BULL ARENA
Sunday’s clash is the Crew’s fourth overall trip to Red Bull Arena since its opening in 2010 ... the Black & Gold have secured points in two of the previous three meetings and hold a 1-1-1 overall record in the Harrison, NJ venue ... in three previous trips there, the Crew has scored five goals and recorded four assists and has averaged 13.33 shots per game.

ANDY WITH ANOTHER CLEAN SHEET...
Andy Gruenebaum recorded his third shutout this season last Saturday in the 1-0 win at Toronto ... holding the Reds scoreless pushed Gruenebaum’s season goals against average back under a goal per game (0.91) giving him his first clean sheet since the 3-0 win against D.C. on April 27 ... last season, in 33 starts, Gruenebaum recorded a career-high eight shutouts ... his most recent effort was his 16th career shutout.

... AND STINGY BACKLINE LEADS CREW TO TOP 5 DEFENSIVE MARKS
With the team’s third shutout of the season last weekend in Toronto, the Black & Gold now rank fifth in MLS for goals against average as a team (0.91) ... the Crew trails Seattle (0.90), Colorado (0.83), New England (0.82) and League-leader Kansas City (0.77) ... Colorado’s two goals against the Crew on May 11 at Crew Stadium was the just the second time this season that the Crew allowed two goals in a game, and the first time since March 9 at Vancouver.

THE TCHANI-SANCHEZ DUO
Tony Tchani has made four consecutive starts in central midfield for the Black & Gold ... joining him last Saturday in Toronto for the second straight match was central mid- fielder Matias Sanchez ... the Tchani-Sanchez duo is the third central midfield pairing Head Coach Robert Warzycha has used in 2013 ... the primary duo of Agustin Viana and Danny O’Rourke started the first seven matches of 2013 while Tchani has made four straight starts with Viana out with a hamstring injury ... Sanchez made his start- ing lineup debut against Coloraod on May 11 with O’Rourke nursing an ankle injury.

EDDIE GAVEN: THE CREW’S MOST-FOULED PLAYER, EVER
Eddie Gaven suffered five fouls in last Saturday’s 1-0 win at Toronto and with 412 fouls suffered in a Crew uniform in 208 games played for the Black & Gold, Gaven became the most-fouled Crew player in club history, passing Brian McBride (407 fouls suffered, 161 games played), whom Gaven entered the match tied with.

FRESH FACES ON THE FIELD
Three Crew players made their 2013 debuts last Saturday in Toronto while one
player -- Justin Meram -- made his first start of the season after securing previous appearances this year ... Homegrown Player Chad Barson made his MLS debut at leftback when he checked in for Tyson Wahl in the 84th minute ... Aaron Schoenfeld also made his first appearance of the season – his first since July 8, 2012 – when he checked in for Dominic Oduro at forward in the 85th-minute ... joining Meram in the starting lineup was Eric Gehrig, who made his first start and appearance of 2013.